Lost In The Echoes
by Ichigo and Hiyori
Summary: Naruto and Ino go on a mission before Sasuke leaves, and Naruto exhausted, protecting Ino and the Clients. Not a good summary, I know, I just can't think of the right words to summarize this story. Sorry, please read and review. ON HIATUS
1. Chapter 1

**AN: Alright, here's a story that I've been developing, and I think it's come together somewhat ok. I know, Ino may be a bit O.C, but it fits into the story. Also, it takes place between when Tsunade get's back and the Sasuke Retrieval mission. Hope you enjoy**

"Ino," Naruto said, not daring to move. He was staring down three rogue ninja who were all prepared to fight.  
"What?" Ino asked, keeping her eyes on the ninja, not risking losing track of them.

"Run. Run as fast and as far as you can," Naruto said, reaching slowly into his kunai pouch, grabbing three kunai to throw. Ino looked over to her temporary teammate. She had a mixed look on her face, one of worry and fear.

"Why?" Ino whined, hoping to change his mind. Naruto just shook his head.

"Ino, this is one of the times when you don't ask questions and just go," Naruto said, detirmined to not let a fellow teammate get hurt.

"Then, at least come back alive," Ino said, worried for Naruto.

"I will, and that's a promise," Naruto said, listening as the platinum blonde ran off. He smiled; now he could really show these ninja what he was made of.

"Well, are you just going to stand there, or what?" one of the ninja yelled out, immediately regretting his words.

**"Well, let's just find out," **Naruto yelled back, demonic tone filling his voice as crimson chakra covered Naruto's battered and bruised body. He smiled, his elongated fangs showing, striking fear into the ninja who had spoken. The rogue ninja shrugged it off, and charged. _How foolish, _Naruto thought, knowing they were no match for him in his one-tail form. He charged at the ninja, throwing the kunai which they blocked with their own. He charged up a Kyuubi enhanced Rasengan, and slammed it into the ground just before he met the ninja in a clash, throwing dirt and dust up, obscuring the ninjas' visions, all except Naruto, who pulled out Kunai and sliced through his blinded enemies, killing them. He smiled at his handiwork, before his chakra cloak receded. He collapsed to one knee, panting from exhaustion. He and Ino had battled through an unusual amount of rogue ninja, all in what was supposed to be a simple, quick mission. He'd done most of the fighting, not wanting a teammate to get hurt, and he succeeded; Ino didn't have a scratch on her. In return, Naruto was battered, bruised, and his orange jumpsuit was in near tatters. He stood up slowly before collapsing back to both knees, panting heavily.

"Baka, I thought you said you'd be ok," Ino said, running back from her hiding spot. She'd seen the whole thing, and was a bit curious as to what that chakra was.

"He, I said I'd come back alive, I never promised in what condition," Naruto got out as he panted heavily. Ino rushed to support him as he started to fall back. She placed Naruto's head in her lap as she sat down behind him.

"Baka, if you make me carry you ba-" Ino was cut off as Naruto broke out laughing.

"Don't worry, I've got clones for that Ino," Naruto said as he created a clone with the last of his available chakra. The clone nodded to Naruto, knowing what he was created to do. Naruto soon passed out, leaving Ino with his head in her lap. She smiled; he wasn't a baka, he thought about others, and always put others before himself, just like during this mission when he exhaused himself to keep her safe.

"Alright, we have to get going back to Konoha, it's at least a five day trip," Ino said, helping the clone to pick up Naruto. The three set out, headed for home, tired. If only they had known a certain masked man was observing this all go down, though as they got close to his location, he disappeared, not wanting to give away his plan too early.

_Five days later_

"Tsunade-sama, I'm worried about Naruto, Ino, and Kukamara's mission. They should've either sent word or been back by now," Kakashi said as he adressed the Hokage in her office. Tsunade turned around from the window to say something, but was interrupted as Shizune broke into the office.

"Tsunade, Naruto and Ino are back! Kukamara's dead and Naruto's unconcious from chakra exhaustion," Shizune panted out, happy that Naruto was ok... somewhat.

"What about Ino?" Kakashi asked, just to make sure that most of the people on the mission were ok.

"She's fine, just exhausted from traveling nonstop," Shizune said, regaining her breath and composure. Tsunade smiled as she stood up and walked around her desk.

"See, Naruto's ok. Though, it is quite a loss that Kukamara died," Tsunade said, remembering the young ninja, "We'l hold a funeral service for Kukamara in twelve days. That'll give Naruto enough time to recover to be at the funeral." Tsunade sighed, that knucklehead was detirmined to kill himself yet.

"Hai," Kakashi responded simply, sunshinning to presumably see his student.

"Shizune, bring Ino here dor the mission report," Tsunade said, plopping into her chair as she looked over the mission files for what was presumably a C-rank mission. Shizune left quietly, heading for Naruto's hospital where Ino was. _It should've been an easy mission, no more than a few bandits, so what went wrong? Maybe I should've held the mission until a jonin was available, _Tsunade thought, racing through as many possibilities as she could. She heard a quick knock o her door, followed by the platinum blonde kunoichi walking in.

"You wanted me, Hokage-sama?" Ino asked, bowing in respect. Tsunade just nodded, gesturing for her to take a seat.

"Yes, I just wanted to know if you could provide any intel on why the rogue ninja were after the shipment," Tsunade said plainly, a frown adorning her face.

"I don't know, Naruto told me to stay with the clients while he and Kukamara went off to fight the ninja. Kukamara was a bit hesitant about waiting to call for back up but Naruto said that by the time they got here, the rogue's would've attacked, and they charged about 20 rogues. Kukamara was taken down after taking about 7 down, and Naruto cut through them. After Naruto killed the ninja, we finished the mission delivering the shipment, figuring that after we delivered the stuff, they'd leave us alone, however, even afterwards, three ninja that were waiting to ambush us originally attacked us just outside the village. Naruto yet again took on the ninja, though with a weird crison cloak like thing covering him," Ino explained, Tsunade nodded in understanding. So, the blonde took down 16 rogue ninja, probably chunin level, but, then again he did take on the one tailed biju, so it shouldn't be that much of a surprise.

"Ok, you'll be payed for an A-rank mission along with Naruto. Kukamara's funeral will be in 12 days, so take time, and rest up, because afterwards, you, Naruto, Kakashi, and Kiba will be going on a mission, since you four will be the only ones without a mission at that time," Tsunade said, receiving a smile from Ino.

"Umm, can I ask you something?" Ino asked, receiving a nod from the Hokage, "can I train under you? I need to get stronger, that way the next time something like this happens, I can be prepared," Ino explained, receiving a light chuckle from the blonde hokage.

"Well, only if you think you can handle it. I can warn you, if you can't handle intense training, you might as well rethink that question," Tsunade said, receiving a nod from the blonde genin.

"I can handle it, I know I can," Ino said detirmined**(I know, I'm making Ino O.C, sorry,)**.

"Alright then, we'll start right after your mission and the funeral," Tsunade said, dismissing Ino.

"Hai, thank you Tsunade-sama," Ino replied with a bow before exiting the office. Tsunade smiled; maybe Ino wasn't all a fangirl. She was interrupted from her thoughts by a hissing noise.

"Psst, Oba-chan," Naruto's voice called out, causing the blonde to abruptly turn around, finding Naruto in his hospital gown.

"Naruto, what are you doing out of the hospital?" Tsunade asked, a bit worried, a bit frustrated.

"I'm not, this is just a shadow clone. I wanted to let you know I was able to bring Kukamara's body back, and that the rogue's wanted the shipment because of Orichi-teme," the clone said, causing Tsunade to scowl at the name.

"What did Orichimaru want with it?" Tsunade asked. The clone shrugged, hell if he knew.

"Now, why the hell did you take on those ninja?" tsunade asked, ready to pound the clone.

"Why did I take on the Ichibi?" the clone shot back. Tsunade scowled and slammed her fist into the clone's face, dispelling him. Tsunade frowned; this was goig to be a rough week, she was going to need some Sake. She reached for her secret drawer and was almost there when Shizune's voice came over the intercom.

"You touch that Sake and I'll have more paperwork than twenty kage's can handle on your desk, tomorrow morning," Shizune threatened, causing Tsunade to become pissed. No Sake, bad mission, and a funeral; great, just great. She reluctantly went back to her paperwork, throwing out the papers that the council had sent to try and get Naruto stripped of his shinobi position and/or executed.

**AN: Alright, did you like it?**


	2. Chapter 2

**AN: Alright, Ch. 2. I'm sorry, I have to warn you, I did get a bit lazy at a point, but I mean, I really don't want to explain the Sasuke Retrieval Mission, especially when it goes right along with canon for the battles. Sorry about that, but I hope you enjoy it as much as I enjoyed writing it. R&R**

_12 1/2 days later_

"Naruto, Kiba, Shikamaru, Neji, Choji, you've all been chosen for this mission based on your skills and the fact that you're the only ninja left in the village," Tsunade explained as the 'Sasuke Retrieval Team' stood in her office. Naruto's face was that of rage, and the only thing keeping him from exploding was the fact that his friends were in the room. He was pissed off so much that if he could, he'd make a deal with that damned fox that if he was released, he'd destroy Orichi-teme and the sound village. But he knew he'd never be able to protect those in the village and become Hokage. He visually calmed down at the thought, though inside he was still boiling.

"Alright team, let's move out. We're to bring Sasuke back alive, no matter what," Shikimaru said as they walked out of the Hokage's office.

"Hey, I'm coming with you!" Ino yelled out, spotting the group as they were walking out of the building.

"No, the village can't afford to send out anymore ninja," Shikimaru shot out, actually worried for his friend.

"Yeah. Besides, it's five on five in case Sasuke decides to fight," aruto said, giving off a fake smile to reassure his newly found friend. Over the last week and a half, they'd trained together, and just plain talked, Ino still trying to pry information about that mysterious cloak.

"Ok, just come back alive you guys," Ino said, a bit saddened. She'd given up on Sasuke after her last mission; he'd become even colder and harsher, besides, she had to focus on training and her friends. Narutos smile turned into that of a sad one, he hated seeing people sad, especially a friend.

"Hey, how about this; after the mission I'll treat everybody to dinner," Naruto said, seemingly cheering up his blonde friend.

"Alright. Now go, you have to catch Sasuke-teme," Ino said, causing weird looks throughout the group. They just shrugged it off and sped off, Kiba and Akamaru leading the way. They caught up quickly, splitting off the group until it was only Naruto left, chasing after Sasuke and Kimimaro**(I think that's how you spell his name)**. Naruto was quickly outmatched, however, Lee joined the fight and allowed Naruto to go after Sasuke. They met in a fierce battle, one that was nearly matched, and Naruto would've won had he not changed course of his attack at the last moment to avoid killing his 'brother'. Sasuke left, leaving Naruto on the shore near the VotE, hoping the rain would wash away his scent. His hopes were true as Kakashi arrived, picking up Naruto and unsuccessfully trying to send his dogs after Sasuke. He carried Naruto on his back to the village, hoping to Kami that his blonde student would survive. The rest of the team had arrived over two hours ago, and Ino stood worridly, waiting for Naruto's return. He should've been back by now, and when she saw a figure come darting out of the woods, her hopes jumped that it was Naruto. Her hopes that her friend was alive, however, dropped when she saw Naruto on Kakashi's back, unmoving.

"Kakashi-sensei!" Ino yelled out, running towards the jonin, who turned quickly.

"Ino, we'll explain what happened. Right now Naruto needs major medical attention!" Kakashi shouted out, turning towards the hospital. That's when she saw it; the gaping hole that went through Naruto's chest and out his back, even though it was ever so slowly closing up, she threw up. How could that happen? It bugged her so much that she stood there, throwing up until her stomach was empty. She raced to the hospital, thoughts flying through her mind. Who did this, and will Naruto be Ok were her two main questions. She quickly arrived, hearing the mass panic as codes were being yelled out, nurses running to their places. She intercepted the secretary before she was called out, asking where Naruto was.

"He's in his own private room, and his condition is stabilized, now I have to go," the nurse got out quickly before running off. Ino sighed in relief; Naruto was ok, and Choji had stabilized an hour before hand, though Neji was still in critical condition. She raced through, looking for the private rooms, and quickly located Naruto's. She knocked timidly, listening for a reply. She heard a quiet come in and found Naruto wrapped in bandages, only his mouth and eyes showing, though she could tell he was frowning.

"Naruto, are you ok I saw what condition you were in when you arrived," Ino said, not quite knowing what to say.

"I... I failed. I couldn't bring him back, and I broke a promise," Naruto said blankly, not really noticing who was in the room.  
"What happened out there?" Ino further questioned, trying to figure out who did it.

"Sasuke. He left of his own accord, sound ninja accompanying as a guard, ready to defend long enough for him to get away, and even with one on one fights, I couldn't beat Sasuke," Naruto rambled on, not turning to face Ino. He was acting like he was in a different world. Ino walked over to him and manually moved his head to face her, looking deep into his blue eyes.

"Naruto, you did your best. It doesn't matter whether or not Sasuke got away, only that you came back... somewhat safe. Now, don't give me that depressed crap, and be glad; everybody came back alive," Ino said, intimidating Naruto.

"You're right. I have to get stronger, that way I can fully protect the people that are precious to me!" Naruto shouted as he tried to stand up, immediately falling back onto the bed in pain.

"Maybe you should get some rest before you go all jumping out of bed," Ino said, sitting in the visitor's chair of Naruto's room. She watched silently, keeping an eye on her knuckleheaded friend. She slowly dozed in the chair, putting her head on to her arms as she slept. That's the moment Naruto waited for; if he had to get stronger, he had to train, no matter what condition his body was in. He slowly got out of bed, sneaking silently past the bed. He was nearly past Ino when her eyes shot open.

"Damn," Naruto cursed under his breath as he froze.

"Naruto, why are out of bed. Get the hell back in the bed before I tell Tsunade," Ino threatened, a tempting look in her eyes.

"Fine. Baa-chan hurts when she's angry," Naruto grumbled, walking back to his bed and laying down. Just as he was dozing off, and after Ino had fallen asleep, Jiraya popped in the window.

"Naruto, are you ok?" He asked, quite silently to not wake up the platinum blonde.

"Ero-sennin! Get me out of here, Ino's holding me in here!" Naruto replied, silently going towards the window.

"Hell no. I heard her say she'd tell Tsunade, and I'm not getting in trouble with her," Jiraya said, remembering the time he got caught peeping by Tsunade. He shivered at the thought of what she would do to him now.

"Fine, you don't have to get me out of here, just get me some ramen and some clothes," Naruto asked, receiving a nod.

"Ok, after mini-Tsunade over there let's you out, how about we go on a training trip?" Jiraya asked, having planned all this out before hand.

"No. I have to stay here and protect those precious to me. Besides, I can get stronger here," Naruto said, detirmined to make sure that nobody got hurt.

"C'mon, we'll travel the countries!" Jiraya persuaded. Naruto shook his head.

"What good is travelling if I can't be here to protect my precious people. I've already failed Jiji, and I don't want to fail anybody else," Naruto said, detirmination in his eyes and voice.

"Fine. I can't force you to go. I'll just have to train you here," Jiraya said, defeated. When Naruto got like this, there was no way he was changing his mind.

"Ok, now I have to get some sleep before Ino kills us both," Naruto said, pushing Jiraya out of the window. He quickly layed back down, going to sleep.

_The Next Day_

"Rasengan!" Naruto yelled, pumping as much chakra as he could into it before slamminbg it into the training dummie in Training ground 7. The dummie was obliterated, chunks of wood flying everywhere. Naruto smiled, he'd gotten the Rasengan stronger. Though, he still needed to gain better chakra control.

"Naruto, we've been looking all over for you," a familiar voice yelled out. Naruto turned to see Ino walking towards him.

"What, you said I could train after getting some rest," Naruto replied, nervous as to why they were looking for him.

"That's not why we were looking for you. We've got a mission, Me, you, Kiba, and Kakashi-sensei," Ino said, reaching the blonde jinchuriki.

"Well, what are we waiting for? Let's go!" Naruto yelled, grabbing Ino's arm and pulling her along as he aimed to meet the team at Konoha's front gates. Ino cursed Naruto out as she was dragged and bumped along, all the while trying to run along with Naruto.

"Naruto! Slow down!" Ino got out before she was slammed into the back of Naruo.

"What's wrong?" Naruto asked, turning around to see Ino on the ground, bruised.

"You were pulling me behind you!" Ino yelled in frustration, pulling herself up. They were maybe 25 meters away from the gate.

"C'mon! I can see Kakashi-sensei and Kiba waiting there!" Naruto whined, trying to get In0 to go.

"If they're waiting already, they can stand to wait a few more mintes," Ino said, leaving no room for arguements.

"Fine. So, what's the mission ab-" Naruto was cut off from talking as a certain Uchiha and fish guy dropped down from the buildings. Naruto cursed under his breath, creating two shadow clones to cover Ino.

"Damn, samheda wants your chakra bad!" Kisame said, causing Ino to sweat drop.

"Ino. Run, go get Kakashi-sensei or anybody as soon as you can," Naruto whispered, Ino nodding as she ran off, clones covering her back.

"Well, time to get this over with," Itachi said in a monotone voice.

**"Let's rock," **Naruto said, a crimson chakra cloak covering him. Kisame chuckled; Samheda was going to feast well tonight.

"Fire Style: Fire Ball Jutsu!" Kakashi's voice rang out, a giant fire ball descending upon the pair. Kisame laughed, Itachi dodged, and Naruto jumped after Itachi. Other Jonin and Anbu arrived, surrounding the four ninja as thy fought, though Naruto was seemingly losing. Kakashi was evenly matched, though becoming quite exhausted from using his sharingan.

"Itachi Uchiha and Kisame Hoshigaki, give up, we have you surrounded," presumably an Anbu captain yelled out, ready to intervene. Just as Naruto got up, he looked into Itachi's eyes, mesmerized by the sharingan. Then everything went black.

**AN: Ooh, a cliffhanger. Exciting. Not really. Ok, maybe. Anyways, sorry again for being lazy on the Sasuke Retrieval part of this chapter. I hope you enjoyed this chapter, R&R**


	3. Chapter 3

**AN: Alright, here's chapter three. Hope you enjoy, this one was a bit easier to write, and don't forget to review what you thought of it.**

"Naruto! Naruto!" Ino's voice rang through his head as he slowly woke up. He groaned, sitting up from his hospital bed.

"What the hell hit me?" Naruto asked, groaning in pain as he adjusted himself so he was sitting up straight. He was instantly wrapped in Ino's arms as she hugged him tightly.

"Naruto, you're ok. We were worried," Ino said, not releasing Naruto.

"Why were you wor- oh, yeah. What happened?" Naruto asked, remembering his little talk with Itachi in the Tsukiyomi.

"Well, we had had Kisame and Itachi surrounded, and when you fell unconcious, they disappeared," Ino said, remembering her own little experience with Itachi as he was leaving the village.

_Flashback_

_"so, it seems Naruto has a friend. I want to let you know, that if you hurt Naruto, I will not cease to exert pain and torment upon you. In my time as an ANBU, he bacame like a little brother to me, and I won't let anyone hurt him like the villagers, not ever again," Ino heard Itachi's voice ring out through her head before she fell unconcious._

_Flashback End_

"Well, I have to get stronger. I have to keep up training to stop Sasuke and to clear Itachi's name with the village, though first, I have to talk to Baa-chan," Naruto said, trying to get out of bed. However, he was stuck there by Ino's hug, keeping him still. "Umm, Ino, you can let go now. Ino?" Naruto's voice rang out, though it fell on deaf ears as Ino was in her own little world. She felt so comfortable, so safe. Words could not describe how she was feeling. She finally let out a sad sigh as Naruto broke free. She realized what she had just did and blushed furiously.

"Hey, Ino, are you ok? You look like you have a fever," Naruto said, acting dumb but knowing what Ino was actually doing.

"N-no! I'm fine!" Ino yelled out defensively, confirming what Naruto had thought.

"Well, if you wanted to hug me, all you had to do is ask, though I have to go tell Tsunade-baa-chan something," Naruto said, standing up from his bed with an embarassed Ino standing next to it.

"C'mon, et's go. As long as you're not hurt, we might as well tell baa-chan since we're the ones who first encountered the rogue's," Naruto said, grabbing Ino's hand as he pulled her lightly along. Ino blushed a bit more at this, though didn't complain. After se got close enough to walk beside Naruto, it actually felt nice to hold hands with the blonde, even if it was just them walking to Tsunade's office. Naruto looked to his companion to see a smile grace her lips as they walked along. Naruto smiled at this, and blushed a bit as he saw Ino look at him.

"Oi, baka, what are you doing here?" Sakura's voice came from the tower, interrupting Naruto and Ino's happy moment.

"Hey, forehead, mind letting us come in? Naruto and I have to speak to Tsunade-sama, not you!" Ino yelled back, causing Naruto to laugh. "Oi, what's so funny?" Ino questioned, a threatening glare on her face. Naruto shrugged off the glare as if it were nothing.  
"Just that you and Sakura can fight like kids, even after what we're here for is serious," Naruto explained, causing Ino to bop him on the head. He whined and rubbed his head, before heading into the tower, Ino still holding his hand. They snuck past Shizune and headed straight for the Hokage's office, knocking.

"Come in!" They heard Tsunade yell and opened the doors.

"Hey baa-chan! Naruto yelled, causing him to be tackled by the elderly blonde. All three blondes went down, Ino refusing to let go of Naruto's hand.

"Gaki! You had us worried," Tsunade said, getting up from the tackle and offering a hand to the two shinobi.

"Yeah, I fell victim to Itachi's Tsukyomi thingy,, and we had a nice little 'chat'," Naruto explained, receiving a nod from Tsunade.

"Naruto, you're not the only one who had a chat with Itachi," Ino spoke up, surprising the other two blondes.

"Wait, what? And why haven't you two stopped holding hands since you've gotten here?" Tsunade asked, realizing the odd occurence.

"Itachi told me to keep his 'little brother' safe," Ino said, leaving out certain parts of their one-sided conversation.

"So that's why you're unconcious, though you still haven't answered my other question," Tsunade said, causing the two to blush.

"Well, it just feels... nice. I don't know," Ino spoke up, confusion in her voice. Tsunade chuckled, seeing Naruto nod in agreement.

"So, should I plan the wedding?" Tsunade teased, causing the two ninja to face fault.

"Well, now that we've gotten that out of the way, Itachi told me about the massacre. about everything," Naruto said, eliciting a confused look from the blonde sannin.

"Wait, what do you mean? Itachi slaughtered his clan out of hunger for power," Tsunade said, remembering the details of the report.

"No, he was given orders by the elders to slaughter his clan. Also, he wasn't the only one involved in killing off the Uchiha; a man named 'Tobi' had helped him. And Itachi knew that completing this mission would mean becoming a missing-nin, but it was to help the village," Naruto said, recalling the facts of Itachi's memories.

"You believe this?" Tsunade asked, receiving an eager nod from the blonde.

"Yeah, especially since Itachi was one of the people who watched over me and protected me from the villagers as an ANBU," Naruto said, only receiving a nod from Tsunade.

"Well, there will be three less council members," Tsunade said, accepting what her godson had said. Naruto smiled, knowing that baa-chan had believed him.

"So, are we still going on that mission?" Naruto asked, changing the subject.

"No. Kakashi is exhausted, and Kiba was deployed along with a few others as back up on an A-rank mission. I can send you both on a B-rank, though," Tsunade said, smiling deviously.

"What are you planning, baa-chan?" Naruto asked, wary of that smile.

"Well, Chunin, I already have a mission for you," Tsunade said, emphasizing the Chunin part.

"Wait, don't we need a Chu-" Naruto was cut off as Tsunade pulled out two chunin vests, and he jumped in joy, whipping Ino's arm up as he did so. She looked awestuck, not caring about her possibly now dislocated shoulder. She couldn't believe they were getting promoted this soon, though she wasn't going to question Tsunade's thinking.

"Welcome to the Chunin ranks, Naruto, Ino. Now that that's out of the way, let's get down to business. We recently sent out a ninja of ours into a suspeced hot-zone for reconassaince, and she hasn't reported back yet. She was due back 5 days ago at the latest. It was a quick in and out mission, so we're sending you two to find out what has happened. We're hoping that it's nothing big, but we can never be sure. You are to leave as soon as you can for the Land of Hot Water, and at all costs, avoid any possible sound ninja if you can," Tsunade said, throwing an info scroll to Naruto who caught it with his left hand.

"Sweet!" Naruto said, excited over the new mission.

"Now, you two love birds get out of my office," Tsunade said, chuckling as the two blushed whilst not letting go of the other's hands, walking out of the office. _I wonder when they're going to realize it, _Tsunade thought as she went back to the dreaded paperwork. A smile overcame the Hokage's face as she remembered she had a new Sake hiding place, and just as she reached for it-

"Tsunade, don't you dare touch that damned Sake, or else I'll rip off your arms," shizune said over the intercom, causing Tsunade to howl in anger. The whole village rattled with the yell, causing citizens to freak out.


	4. Chapter 4

**AN: Alright, Ch 4 is here to save the day. Jk. so, in this chapter, I so wanted to kill off Sasuke so badly, so so badly, but I just couldn't do it. Hope you enjoy it, and I hope it doesn't seem rushed. Please review what you think, even if it's just one word.**

_1 day later, Land of Hot Water_

Ino stood, frozen to the spot. They were supposed to meet Rin in the area, but she hadn't shown up yet. Naruto was hiding in the trees, ready in case it was an ambush. Just as they were going to go back to their camp, Sasuke had shown up, along with Kabuto as back up.

"Well, hello Ino, fancy meeting you here," Sasuke shot out, venom filling his voice. Ino heard Naruto silently growl at this, holding back his anger. Ino, however, stood in fear. This was the person, no, demon, that had nearly killed Naruto, and here he was, ready to kill her. She couldn't respond, or move, as Sasuke snorted in arrogance, charging his chidori. Ino was just going to be one less person to mark off on his list of people to kill, and he proved it as he charged at her. Naruto screamed in anger at Ino to move, but she couldn't, she was too scared. Naruto cursed under his breath as Sasuke was almost there and made a quick handsign, disappearing from his spot to be replaced by Ino. The platinum blonde heard a scream of pain as the attack ripped through where she was supposed to be, and her heart immediately fell as she saw the Uchiha's hand protruding from Naruto's back. She looked towards Sasuke after hearing a strangled noise as Naruto's hand crushed Sasuke's windpipe. Kabuto came running in at this and pushed Naruto off of Sasuke's arm, just barely in time for Sasuke to be saved as the two disappeared in a sunshin. Naruto fell to the ground, his heart rate slowing down, and breathing becoming hard. He could barely keep his eyes open as his body fell limp.

"Naruto!" Ino cried out, rushing over to the blonde's limp body. She held his head in her lap, sobbing. Ninja started surrounding her, but she didn't care. Naruto had saved her life by using the substitution jutsu at the last second, the deadly attack hitting Naruto instead. The ninja charged, but she didn't bother; her friend had died for her. She heard the sound of metal against metal and looked up, seeing the Leaf ninja they were supposed to find battling against four sound ninja. She was startled when Naruto reached up and cupped her cheek.

"C'mon. I have to help," Naruto said, trying to get up. Instead, Ino pushed him back down and got up herself.

"No. You've done enough, now it's my time," Ino said, pulling out several kunai to distract the sound ninja. The unspoken plan worked as one of the sound ninja diverted their attention to Ino, giving the fellow leaf ninja enough time to kill him. Ino charged to help the woman. She grabbed another kunai out just in time as another ninja was about to slice through her, blocking the slice and slamming a chakra enhanced fist into the ninja's gut, knocking him out. She turned in time to receive a hard punch to her jaw, sending her backwards like a ragdoll. The enemy ninja shuddered as a wave of killing intent was sent at them. The world visibly darkened as an ominous red glow came from Naruto, who was slowly standing up, the hole in his chest disappearing. The glow turned to crimson chakra, as Naruto got on all fours, a growl sounding out that promised much pain and misery. Ino shuddered; she'd seen Naruto with the chakra, but not like this. It was almost as if he was being controlled by a force, one ready to destroy anything and everything. She was right, as she tried to sit up and a feral roar was heard, just before the mangled screams of the remaining sound ninja were slaughtered, Rin jumping back before she was caught in the attack. Naruto stood straight up, his chakra cloak receding as he turned towards Ino.

"Nobody, nobody gets away with hurting you," Naruto said, before turning towards Rin.

"S-sensei!" Rin yelled out, before noticing the whisker marks and how short Naruto was.

"I take it you're Rin, Kakashi-sensei's old teammate?" Naruto asked, staying standing with all his might.

"Hai. I take it Tsunade-sama sent you after me because I was out longer than I should've been?" Rin asked, receiving a nod before Naruto walked over to Ino to help her up. She gladly accepted his hand and stood up, rubbing her jaw.

"Thanks. Yet again, you've saved me. This is becoming too much like a routine," Ino said, causing Naruto to chuckle. He was about to say something, but his eyes rolled up into his head as he collapsed to the ground, being caught by Ino.

"Umm, is he ok?" Rin asked nervously. Ino just nodded.

"Yeah, he's exhausted. Let's get him ba-" Ino was cut off as a poof of smoke appeared.

"Naruto, are you ok? Whoa, Naruto you lucky dog," Jiraya said, appearing from the cloud of smoke. Ino turned toward the sannin slowly, anger in her eyes.

"What do you mean by that?" Ino asked, a glare promising pain if he answered pervertedly.

"I, uh, meant that he was in the care of such prominent ninja," Jiraya said as he disappeared in another cloud of smoke.

"Ramen king, I'll save you from the Ramen villains!" Naruto yelled out in his sleep, causing the kunoichi to sweatdrop.

"Well, we'd better get going. By the time Oichimaru figures out we defeated his ninja, he'll send more ninja here to kill us," Rin said, walking over to Ino.

"Do you know the sushin?" Ino asked receiving a quick nod from the brunette. "Ok, we have to move quickly in order to ensure that Naruto's truly ok," Ino responded as she grabbed Naruto's hand and Rin grabbed her other. Rin gave a quick nod and performed the jutsu, returning to Konoha directly in front of the hospital.

_Hokage's Office_

"Naruto's back," Tsunade said aloud, to no one in particular.

"How do you know?" asked a dog-masked ANBU, appearing out of the shadows.

"Well, I can sense his chakra for one, and also, I just received message from the hospital that he came back in a pretty banged up state," Tsunade said in reply, before the ANBU disappeared. Tsunade shook her head, that boy would never come back unharmed. She waited paitiently, knowing that Ino would be back either with or without Rin for the mission report, so long as they had found her.

'Hokage-sama, sorry. Took a bit longer than planned," Tsunade heard a voice behind her, immediately recognising it as Rin's.

"So, what do yu report for your mission, now that I know the retrieval mission was a succes," Tsunade said, turning to the window where Rin stood.

"Well, the reports were right. Orichimaru does have a base in the Land of Hot Water, and he was using it at the time. By now though, he's sure to have been evacuated by now," Rin said, Tsunade nodded in response.

"And Naruto?" Tsunade asked, receiving a grim look from Rin.

"Well, we were supposed to meet up in a clearing, however, a certain Uchiha working with the snake showed up, and attacked the girl. I'm guessing from the puff of smoke, Naruto was hiding and used subsitution jutsu to replace himself with the girl, taking the full force of what looked like Kakashi's attack. Naruto was hit straight in the chest, but still tried to kill Sasuke by crushing his windpipe while his arm was still in Naruto's chest. One of Orichimaru's minions came running up and shoved Naruto away before Sasuke's throat was crushed, and they disappeared. I'll let Ino or Naruto explain what happened after, because I was facing down the reinforcements," Rin said, making to leave. Tsunade stopped her, just as she was going to jump out the window.

"I know you saw the resemblance, and all I can say is that that information of his heritage is an S-class secret, punishable by death," Tsunade said, nodding the whole talk.

"Hai, Tsunade-sama. I'll inform Ino that you'll want the mission report right away," Rin said, smiling in acknowledgement as she jumped away. Tsunade smiled; at least everybody survived. She was lost deep in thought, remembering Minato and Kushina, Sarutobi, and Dan. She was interrupted from her thoughts as a knock sounded on her door.

"Come in," Tsunade said, not surprised to see Ino open the door.

"You wanted the report?" Ino asked, sitting in front of the Hokage's desk.

"Yes. Rin has told me of up to what happened after Naruto tried to kill the teme," Tsunade said, spitting the word out with venom in her voice.

"Well, after Sasuke and Kabuto disappeared, I ran over to Naruto to make sure he was alive. He tried to get up and I didnt let him, I helped Rin fight, got knocked away by a punch to the jaw and that's when all hell broke loose with Naruto," Ino said, summarizing the events. Tsunade nodded, knowing what Ino met by all hell breaks loose.

"Ino, since you've made chunin, I think it's time I tell you about Naruto's 'condition'," Tsunade said, ushering the ANBU out of the room and throwing a privacy seal up.

"What do you mean?" Ino asked, confused.

"Well, let's start from the beginning. You know how you learned that the Yondaime killed the Kyuubi? Well, no biju can technically be killed, so instead, the Yondaime used a now SSS-class sealing technique which would kill him, however, it would create the most powerful seal seen to man on the child it was used on. That child was-"

"Naruto," Ino said sadly, realizing the not so coincidental birthdate of Naruto and the defeat of the Kyuubi.

"Yes. Well, Naruto is aware, as is Shikamaru since he too has become a chunin," Tsunade said, receiving a nod from Ino.

"So, that's why most of the adults treated him like a pariah. I, I should've treated him nicer as a child, I should've taken my time to become his friend. I should've done so much more!" Ino yelled out in frustration.

"Ino, it's not your fault. You didn't know, and besides, Naruto wouldn't want pity," Tsunade said, seeing Ino calm down.

'You're right. I ave to go now, to make sure he's ok," Ino said, running out of the room, not waiting for a response. Tsunade double checked the room for spying devices, anything, and went to a floorboard under her desk. She slowly pried it up, and as she was about to take it out-

"Tsunade, put that damned Sake back," Shizune threatened, causing the blonde Hokage to howl yet again in anger.

_Naruto's private room_

"Naruto, you here?" Ino asked, opening the door. What she saw shocked her; the room was in near shambles, almost no longer a room. Naruto was missing, and a trail of blood leading out the window. She searched the room, hoping Naruto was hiding on her and just pulling a trick. She turned everything over in the room, searching for Naruto. she was about to ge tell Tsunade when she heard a groan.

"Ino," Ino heard Naruto's voice call out, raspy and short.

"Naruto!" Ino yelled, running towards the source of the voice. It was coming from within one of the cabinets in the room. She opened it and Naruto fell onto her, Ino just barely reacting in time to brace Naruto. She pulled him over to the bed and layed him down, inspecting the mass of injuries covering his body. He was losing blood rapidly from a cut across his torso, and the Kyuubi seemed to be doing nothing about it.

"Ino. I... I'm not going to make it. I'm sorry i couldn't do more," Narutp rasped out, life leaving his eyes.

"No, Naruto, you will make it, even if I have to drain every last bit of chakra to save you, you won't be dying, not today," Ino said, tears falling down her cheeks as she started trying unsuccsessfully to heal Naruto. Naruto rasped out three more nearly uncomprehendable words, but they made Ino burst into tears, hugging onto Naruto's now lifeless body.

"Alright, I think that's all I needed to see," a voice eerily familiar to Ino spoke out as the world around her disappeared into gray nothingness. Itachi appeared suddenly beside her, startling Ino into jumping back a few feet.

"Itachi," Ino spoke the name with few, though she truly didn't fear him as much as she used to.

"Yes. So, I see that you and Naruto have grown close, as I have done the same thing to Naruto just a few seconds earlier," Itachi said, not waiting before releasing his jutsu and disappearing, all in under twenty seconds. Ino's body slunk to the ground, a nurse passing by rushing to her side. She had made it to the hall where Naruto's room was placed, and that had been when Itachi struck.

**AN: Alright, hope you enjoyed it. Sorry again if it seemed rushed. Thanks for reading**


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